Research Report on Esch Family in Blessenbach Germany

Report from Paul Schmidt on Esch research
in German records at Salt Lake. Wording is quoted from his report except
where in [brackets]. Those comments are mine based on things he wrote that
didn't need to be quoted exactly.

[Correction of previous Adam-Catherine marriage
translation - I had "of here" and that is not accurate. "The phrase used
was daselbst which is actually translateds as "from there", or "of that
place", meaning Blessenbach.]

[Misc notes, out of order] - Henrich is
a regional form of Heinrich. The suffix, "EN" is added to the name to show
possession, such as "Johan Henrich Esch's son". The suffix, "IN" denotes
a feminine ending of the surname, and generally can be ignored. Although
I was unable to positively tie this family to your Adam Ash, I'm virtually
certain that this relationship is correct. It's too bad that one of the
most crucial parish registers is missing, but that's what happens sometimes.

[The important, analysis part of his report]
- Therefore, research began in Blessenbach, where most of the family of
Johann Heinrich Esch was identified and documented. Unfortunately, there
appears to be a rigester missing, for the years 1742-64, so the christening
of the ancestral Johann Adam Esch (and possibly younger siblings) could
not be procured. To further complicate matters, some of the children born
to Johann Henrich Esch were not named in the records. Generally, children
were named after one or more of their godparents (or sponsors), so the
unnamed child born in 1727 may have been named Christoph, and the child
born in 1732 could have been Johann Adam or Johann Wilhelm, although the
gender of the child was not provided in either entry. [It couldn't have
been Adam because Adam was born in 1744]. If William Ash was a brother
of Adam, he would have to have been the child born in 1732. If born after
1741, it is unlikely that he would have been able to emigrate on his own
in 1753/54.

Since this was the only Johann Henrich Esch
residing in Blessenbach, he almost certainly was the ancestor. It is highly
unlikely that another man by that name moved to the parish after 741 and
began having children.

[I am now convinced that Adam was indeed
a much younger brother to Henry and William because Adam's marriage record
shows his father is Johann Henrich, Henry's birth record shows his father
has the same name, and there is only one man of that name in the parish,
and that man had children spanning the years up close to Adam's birth.]

[The rest of the report just shows the methodology
to find the records that are now placed in the family groups.]

[Lastly, he says:] The family may have originated
in nearby Eppenrod, and those registers can be searched further for them
during a future session, if desired. [The Kroh, Zimmer, and Jost surnames
could also be searched; and we should find out from Blessenbach itself
if the missing register has been found since the others were microfilmed.]